


Play Fair

by Jaamesbbarnes



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Flirty Bucky, Teasing, flluff, pinning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-13 02:59:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16884381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaamesbbarnes/pseuds/Jaamesbbarnes
Summary: After a rough mission, you and the team go to Coney Island for some fun. Still injured, you can’t go on the rollercoaster with the others so Bucky decides to keep you company and to make your day as memorable as possible.





	Play Fair

It was no secret that being an Avenger was more than stressful and, sometimes to your dismay, rare were the opportunities for leisure. So, the day Tony had clapped his hands in the middle of lunch, cutting all conversations to bring the attention on him and declared that you were all going to Coney Island for the afternoon, nobody really rejected the idea.

The weather was magnificent, sunny and warm but not so much that you would be melting. It was just enough to trade your workout clothes for fluid pants and a light, short-sleeved blouse that allowed you to move freely.

As you got ready and climbed in the car drove by Nat, you couldn’t deny you felt like a child. Excitement was bubbling in your system to the prospect of spending an entire day at the amusement park. The delicious smell of popcorn, cotton candy and other sweet treats filling the air, the light and joyful atmosphere, the happiness radiating off people’s faces, spending time with the people you loved. There was nothing like it.

Squeezed between Sam and Bucky at the back of the sports car, you almost didn’t mind the endless bantering between the two teammates that made difficult for you to keep up your conversation with Steve and Nat at the front of the car. You were laughing at Steve’s shocked face as he heard one of The Weeknd’s not so subtle songs playing on the radio when you received a hard nudge. The sharp pain combined with the surprise tore a whimper from you.

You automatically placed your hand on your throbbing ribs that were still a little struggling to heal after your last mission. You had experienced a lot of hits in your life, but cracked ribs were probably the worst you ever suffered from. You bit your tongue to suppress the string of profanities you wanted to shout at Sam.

“Fucking hell, Sam! Watch out!” Bucky roared. If you hadn’t been so focused on trying to catch a breath, you could have sworn you heard anger in his voice.

“Shit, Y/N, I’m sorry!” The Falcon gasped, placing his hand on your shoulder and apologetically drawing circle on your back, missing the dirty glare Bucky was shooting his way.

You took a deep breath, causing you to wince but after a few seconds, the pain slightly eased. “It’s okay, it was an accident,” you mumbled a little shakily before offering him a faint smile as you felt your ribs still throbbing against your fingers.

Sam’s face was distorted with guilt and you felt terrible for reacting the way you did. Of course it was an accident, him and Bucky were heckling and you had happened to be between them when he was trying to hit Bucky. But, not being the kind of person to ever complain or admit being in pain, your reaction took everybody by surprise. You guessed that was why they were all looking at you in concern.

“You okay, Y/N?” Nat asked, looking at you in the rear-view mirror.

You nodded, offering her a weak smile, “got taken by surprise, that’s all. Not all of us have super-soldier magic potion that makes us heal in ten minutes,” you chuckled to ease the tension but quickly regretted your little joke when you had to press your hand on your ribs to ease the new sharp pain.

Bucky suddenly relaxed and you felt his chest rumbling with a low chuckle against your arm, the sound echoing in your entire body, causing your ribs to tingle a little. It was only then that you realized how tensed he was next to you, or rather against you because the car was definitely too small for three adults in the back, including one large beefcake like him.

“You certainly do not but you’ll have all the treats you want today, on me,” Sam said, probably feeling Bucky’s insisting look on his hand because he finally took it off you.

A genuine grin tugged at your lips, “you got yourself a deal, Wilson!” You chuckled, lifting your left arm for a high five, causing your valid side to rest against Bucky’s flesh arm. It was Nat announcing that you were arriving that forced the blue-eyed soldier not to get too lost in the sensation of your body pressed against his as you and Sam started enumerating all your favorites sweets that you could usually only find at fairs.

Bucky got out of the car and didn’t think much before extending his hand to help you out. “Careful,” he said gently when you placed your hand in his, the same jolt of electricity popping up his spine every time you touched. Once you were steady on your feet, you thanked him, maybe letting your fingers linger in his a little too long in his but who would check that?

The second car containing the other part of the group was already there despite Tony having made a detour in Queens to pick up Peter but no one dared to ask. Your group as well as Wanda, Vision, Bruce, Peter and Tony and started walking towards the themed park entry. You couldn’t keep the genuine smile tugging at your lips from widening at delicious sweet smell tickling your nostrils and the general happy energy radiating off that place.

“You okay?”

You turned your head to notice Bucky had slowed down his pace for you to catch up with him while the large majority of the group sprinted towards the famous Cyclone, Natasha and Sam clearly dragging Steve. Your smile widened even more, even if you didn’t think it was humanly possible, at Bucky’s obvious concern. 

You nodded. “I am, don’t worry. I was launched from a window, I’ve seen worse than a little nudge,” you chuckled.

You noticed the shadow crossing Bucky’s eyes at the mentioning of the last mission you had left for with Steve and Tony. You were half-conscious when he had barged into the medical bay, guilt gnawing at his insides when he had heard what happened to you. He was supposed to come with you to that mission but you all told him to rest, he was just coming back from another mission and this on was supposed to be a simple in and out. Nothing the three of you couldn’t handle… if it wasn’t for the 13 agents waiting for you in the shadow of the abandoned building.

You had handled your fair share of agents for someone without super-serum nor a high-tech amor and you had just overcame your last one when one of them stood up and tackled you through a window. You had managed to flip her over and use her body to take most of the fall for you.

Ironically enough, she had probably saved your life and, weeks later two things still remained: the wet thud of her carcass hitting the ground, and the sharp throbbing in your ribcage when you breathed too heavily, sneezed, coughed, laughed, moved… took a nudge.

“Really, Bucky, I’m okay,” you reassured him, “you can go with the rest of the group, I’ll go buy some sweets and walk around.” Your smile never faltered, the prospects of digging in all the sweet treats you could encounter immediately lifted up your spirit.

Bucky’s snort brought you out of your Charlie and the Chocolate Factory daydream. “Because you really think I’ll take the risk to have you eating all the cotton candy in all Coney Island, doll? No way.” The teasing glint in the former soldier’s eyes made a soft chuckle run past your list.

“Goddamnit!” you dramatically groaned, “so close to the goal!”

Bucky let out a heartfelt laughter, the kind that overpowered every single sound surrounding you and turning them into a soft humming. “So close, yet so far! Come on, doll, let’s go. First round’s on Sam,” he grinned, literally pulling a twenty from his sleeve and holding it between his index and middle finger.

Your entire face lit up, causing Bucky’s heart to expand in his chest before you frowned in confusion, “wait, did he give you that?” you asked, warily squinting your eyes at him.

“He just left it there.”

You crossed your arms as much as you could at his evasive tone, an amused smile pulling at your lips, “left it where?”

“His pocket,” he shrugged.

“Oh my god, you stole it from him?” no matter how hard you tried to disapprovingly stare at him, the amusement was too evident in your voice. Bucky knew you enough to know the only reason your voice was going so high it was because you were trying not to laugh.

His grin kept growing wider and wider. To him, there was nothing like being the reason you were so relaxed. Rare were the occasion when the weight of your job wasn’t weighing you down so, whenever he could, he loved spending his free-time with you, sometime with the rest of the team, most of the time only the two of you.

“Hey, he did say he’d buy you something right?”

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head in disbelief. “you gotta be kidding me,” you chuckled. “You’re lucky I’m dying for some churros, you know that?”

“When are you not dying for food, though?” he teased, snaking his arm around your shoulders and carefully guiding you towards his favorite food stand, he couldn’t believe it was still here after all these years.

“Rude!” you gasped, pouting. Bucky laughed again, relishing in every single reaction he could get from you. The rumbling of his chest echoed in you against and you had difficulties not to let yourself melt against his side. Despite the warm air, the shiver dancing around your spine whenever you two were so close made you want to curl up against him even more.

“I’m never rude, doll. I’m always speaking the truth and you kn-” you shut him up with a playful smack on his chest and the toothy grin you earned in return made you a little weak in the knees, but not as much as the kiss he placed on your temple.

Wandering along the amusement park alleys, you were gladly finishing to munch on your fourth churro, chuckling at another of Bucky’s infamous stories. 

“I don’t believe you,” you snorted. 

Bucky gasped in offense, “why the hell would you not believe me? Don’t you know I was, and I still am by the way, the best sniper of my time?”

“If you make me roll my eyes one more time, I’ll get a headache, Barnes,” you pinched a piece of his cotton candy between your fingers before shoving it in your mouth, savoring the way it immediately melted on your tongue.

“Then why don’t I show you?” he challenged you, quirking his brow.

An amused smile tugged at your lips and you tilted your head, “yes, Barnes, why don’t you show me?” you mimicked his tone and you didn’t know whose eyes were shining the brightest.

Bucky winked at you before unwillingly turning his gaze away to scan around and his face lit up when he found the shooting gallery he was looking for. Without noticing, Bucky slid his fingers in yours and gently tugged on your free hand for you to follow him. You squeezed his hand, obediently following him, not missing how warm and comforting his hold felt.

“Okay doll,” Bucky said, gesturing towards the prizes displayed on the shelves, “pick your favorite and I shall win it for you.” 

Confidence was radiating off him and you felt it brushing your own skin, gently making your own blood pumping harder in your veins, or maybe it was the intensity of his challenging gaze and how close he was standing while still holding your hand? You felt your heart starting to bubble in your chest. For each second that passed, Bucky’s smirk kept growing.

“Fine,” you conceded, your own lips curving into a wicked smile as you turned your head to look at the prizes. You took a long time studying each option, nodding in assent as if you were taking the most important decision. You could hear Bucky chuckling next to you, extremely amused by your little act.

“Trying to gain some time, dollface?” Bucky’s proximity made his breath to tickle the side of your neck and you had to bite your tongue not to let a miserable whimper slipping out.

“I’ve got nothing to lose, here, Sarge,” you reminded him and if you had looked at him right as this moment, you would have seen him digging his teeth into his bottom lip at the rank name. 

You had never used it before but Bucky couldn’t say he didn’t like it. Adrenalin was shooting in his system. It was a common thing whenever he was with you, but he felt like today was special. Your constant teasing had increased by a tenfold since you stepped in Coney Island, the light-hearted atmosphere probably playing a part. It was good to be normal once in a while.

His eyes roamed your perfect profile that he already knew by heart now from having looked at you so many times without you noticing. 

“This one!”

Your voice brought him out of his daydream and he followed where you were pointing at with your churros cornet. A giant stuffed panda munching on a piece of bamboo. You turned your head to look at him, “he reminds me of your emo phase,” you grinned.

Bucky scrunched his nose and threw his head back, barking in laughters before shaking his head and handing you his almost finished cotton candy stick. You reluctantly let go of his hand and took the stick before stepping aside. After giving what was left of Sam’s money to the stallholder, he took the rifle he was handed.

Bucky had to win three games to be able to win the stuffed animal, which was why you picked that one in particular. Taking a few bites of cotton candy, you carefully observed Bucky’s entire demeanor change and you felt your body slightly heating up when you recognized his mission stance. His face was entirely closed, his eyes fixed on his aim and his brows furrowed. You were about to tease him on his focus when he fired the first shot, rapidly followed by eleven others. Each of them punctuated by one of the small wooden figures falling flat on their backs.

You stopped breathing for a second and you were pretty certain everybody around you had stopped moving. Swiftly, Bucky grabbed the cartridges the stallholder was holding and recharged his rifle with the blank bullets before moving to the side to shoot on the empty spot next to him. The man tried to protest but before he could ever open his mouth, Bucky had finished his second game, recharged his rifle again and he was finishing his last game. Almost without blinking.

You stood there, completely frozen as well as the group of teenagers on the side that were looking at Bucky with a mix of admiration and fear. However you knew it wasn’t fear that was making your lower stomach grow warm. Far from it. Very gently, Bucky placed the riffle back down and offered his most polite smile. 

“I’ll take the panda, please.”

You couldn’t help but scoff at his boldness. Grumbling, the stallholder picked the Panda and gave it to Bucky, glaring at him. 

“Thank you very much.”

Bucky ignored the profanities the man was muttering under his breath and turned around with a triumphant smile plastered on his perfect face. 

“As promised, doll,” he winked, taking the stick from your hand before handing you the ridiculously large animal.

You chuckled in disbelief, shaking your head before tucking the panda under your arm. “Thank you,” you snorted, trying to ignore the heat rising to your face. After he looked insistantly at you you sighed, resigned, “fiiiine, yes, okay, now I believe you did won every single time at the shooting gallery.”

“Why, thank you so very much, doll,” he feigned relief, placing his hand over his heart and you rolled your eyes at him. Again. “Want me to carry it for you, so you can finish your churros?” He teased, unable to hide how adorable you looked while holding your food and panda.

You looked at both your hands, assessing the situation. You pursed your lips in deep focus and tried to take a churro but you ended up smashing the panda’s nose in your face and you giggled heartily. “Yeah, I’d like that, thank you. I’ll try to be quick!”

You couldn’t suppress another giggle from running past your lips when Bucky held the giant panda, the softness of the animal clashing with the black and gold metal arm. The sight was so endearing and soft you felt your heart melting. To add to the little show, Bucky exaggerated his murder face, causing you to laugh even harder, the constant pain in your ribs suddenly not important anymore. The melodious sound made it difficult for Bucky not to break out of character as it tended to make his lips curl up every time he heard it.

You both continued walking around for a bit, looking at other people enjoying the amusement park atmosphere. Coney Island was completely out of place, out of time and you could see by the soft smile continuously dancing on Bucky’s lips that it was comforting for him.

The sun was slowly setting and, except from seeing some other members of the team here and there, it had be only you on Bucky all afternoon long. 

“I kept you from having fun with everybody else today. I’m sorry you had to babysit me,” you said, holding your panda with one arm and sipping on a hot chocolate with your free hand. 

The air was turning a little cooler and you were too damn stubborn to admit you were cold so you chose to warm yourself up with a hot beverage. And it was not as if you would ever say no to cocoa.

“I think I’m too old for roller coasters and bumper cars, doll. And I had a lot of fun today,” he assured you as you both admired people walking on the beach.

You turned your head to look at him and offered him a gentle smile, “I had a lot of fun too, thank you to the company.”

As he chuckled in answer, you noticed the Ferris Wheel lighting up behind him. Your face must have lit up in sync because Bucky frowned in confusion before looking over his shoulder and a warm smile crept up his lips in realization.

“Let’s go for a ride, I’m pretty sure the sunset will look better from up there.”

Without another word, he took your panda and offered you his hand. You didn’t long hesitate before taking it in yours, your heart skipping a beat at the comforting feeling. Walking past tired children already asleep in their parents’ arms or their strollers, you quickly made your way to the Ferris Wheel not to miss any second of the sunset.

Bucky let you sit first in the gondola, following you suit before taking extra care to install the panda on the opposite bench. “Comfortable, buddy?” he asked the bear, adjusting his head and making you laugh. “What? I’m just being considerate!” he goofily grinned at you.

It was the gondola slowly starting to climb up that made your laughter slowly die down as the New Yorker lines appeared before your eyes, the dark buildings contrasting with the pink and orange shaded sky. An amazed smile crept up your lips as the warm colors reflected on the water, you almost didn’t notice the Ferris Wheel had stopped moving once you were at the top.

“It’s… breathtaking,” you whispered. The silence at the top of the wheel contrasting with the constant buzzing of the city on display underneath you.

Bucky hummed, “breathtaking indeed.” 

His voice sounded different, more quiet, softer, deeper. You turned your head to see if he was alright, wondering if the height was making him uncomfortable but when you looked at him, you realized he was already looking at you. His lips were dancing on the edge of a smile, his eyes shining with something you had already seen before but that seemed incredibly more intimate right now, bathed in the warm color of the sky.

You breathed out his name, only realizing now you had been holding your breath. He placed his index under your chin in answer, gently tilting your head better. You felt your heartbeat speeding up in your chest and pounding in your ears. Bucky’s gaze shifted from your eyes to your lips, his own lips curling up a little before he looked up again.

“Can I?” he whispered, the soft fanning of his breathing against your lips making you realize he had leaned a little closer. 

Your breathing hitched in your throat and you found yourself speechless for the first time in your life. The only thing you could grasp onto was how warm Bucky’s hand felt under your chin and how soft his gaze were.

Through the foggy brain, you managed to find the capacity to nod, a little too eagerly to your liking, tearing a chuckle from Bucky. You swallowed the sound, your own lips tugging up as you leaned closer, in dire need to finally feel his lips on yours. Bucky’s tongue darted out in anticipation and your name fell of his lips in a breathless whisper before he pressed them to yours.

If the entire universe hadn’t stilled for a second when he kissed you, it definitely felt like it. Despite your numb brain, you were painfully aware of Bucky’s beard tickling your skin, deliciously clashing with the softness of his lips. You both stopped moving for a second, trying to comprehend what was happening but the growing warmth in your stomach encouraged you to do something.

So, shyly at first, you started pressing your lips a little more firmly against his. The former soldier didn’t waste any second to respond to the kiss, especially when he felt your fresh hand on his chest and slowly creeping up to the back of his neck. 

Feeling bold, Bucky let the tip of his tongue trace your bottom lip, the sweet taste of chocolate that tickled his taste buds making his chest rumble in deep content.

You sighed in answer, slowly parting your lips to gladly grant him access and you swore you felt him smile into the kiss when the most miserable whimper escaped you. And from here the kiss grew more feverish, more needy. Months of building frustration resulting in you only parting when your lungs were aching from the lack of oxygen, your fingers tangled in his long locks and his hands secured on your waist and lower back.

Foreheads resting against each other, you chuckled breathlessly as he tried to chase another chocolate flavored kiss, both of you grinning impossibly wide as the Ferris Wheel slowly made its way down.

“Wanna go for a second ride, doll?” he chuckled against your lips.

You only giggled in answer, cupping his face to peck his lips repeatedly, “yes please, Sarge.”


End file.
